Reasons to Interfere
by Demetria0620
Summary: Five times Bast interferes because she loves her mortals, and one time she interferes because she is ethereally pissed off. Companion fic to Reasons to Fight.


**A/N: Written because at least two people have mentioned that they wanted to see Bast dealing with Thanos for Bucky and T'challa. And because Shakespeare class is murdering me. Un-betaed, goddess with human feelings, so ye have been warned.**

* * *

 **1.**

The first time she interfered in mortal's business was when her cubs were at war.

It was barely over a century after the universe granted her request to gift her children with powerful resource from space. Vibranium, as The Great Six has told her, was one of the strongest metal in the universe and now was gifted to her cubs. It should have made them prosper over the rest of the world, should have made her cubs flourished and lived peacefully together.

She has forgotten about mortal's greed.

Now, they were at war with each other over the gift she has requested for their good.

Sometimes she wondered if she should have listened to Hanuman back then—her all mighty brother was violently against the idea of gifting such great resource to their children. He feared that the resource will cause their believers to forget them in exchange of progress, that they will forget tradition once the technology dominated their land.

To be honest, she couldn't blame him. His prediction has come true.

Sobek and Sekmet have long retreated to their home realm—their followers have forgotten about them, leaving only Bast and Hanuman to remain in mortal world to watch over their cubs. It caused a little rift between Bast and Hanuman as they mourned for their departed kin.

It hurt them immensely. What little remains of Sobek and Sekmet's believers, Hanuman's children and Bast's own cubs were killing each other over the gift from The Great Six. They mourned the lost of each fallen cub and Bast regretted each drop of blood that fell on her land.

Hanuman didn't say anything, but she knew that he was grieving too—she knew that they both loved their mortals so much to watch this bloodshed kept going.

In the end, she approached the leader of her own cub, the very one who still faithfully believed in her prowess and led him to the herb grown on the land of the gift and fertilised with her own power. Her cubs needed a powerful leader to unite them all, and she hoped that he would be the one for the job.

It worked. Her chosen cub gained a part of her power and united four of the warring tribes under one flag.

She bowed her head in respect when Hanuman's children retreated into the mountains, knowing that she owed her brother enough. In return, he has given her his first smile since the past centuries, and they departed with the knowledge that their children would unite once again when the time came.

As Wakanda flourished throughout the ages, Goddess Bast was pleased that she interfered centuries ago.

* * *

 **2.**

The second time she interfered was to guide her young panther.

It has been a long time since the last she interfered in mortal's business. There was no need for her to do so before. Her cubs were smart. They isolated themselves from the world, and as much as it pained her to watch her friends departed into their home realm as their followers stopped believing in them, she was glad that her cubs and Hanuman's children still believed in them. The generations of Black Panther and White Gorilla have done a great job preserving the beliefs to both Bast and Hanuman throughout the ages.

And now, to return the favour, she interfered once again, knowing that if she did not, her young panther would lose all of his heart like his father.

She escorted his father to the ancestral plane, assuring the guilt-stricken old panther that she would guide his son to be a better king than him, to atone his sins to his own kin. She left T'chaka with his ancestors and returned to follow her young panther to the lands of her long-departed friends, feeling the grief struck again at the departure of the deities that once were dominant in this land. It has been some long ages since the last she visited this land and it saddened her to see that the number of believers has diminished so greatly in this side of the world.

She hovered over her raging young panther, trying to shield him from the embrace of rage and vendetta. He was still so young and pure, with so much potential to be the greatest king Wakanda has ever witnessed. She couldn't have him to go astray with revenge now. He was hunting the wrong man—an innocent tortured man from the glimpses that she had—and she knew that it would destroy her young gentle panther if he had killed this innocent man, only to discover the truth later.

She whispered into his veins, knowing that the blood will listen to her voice more than his senses would, and purred in satisfaction when each of her panther's lethal attack missed its target. She would not let her cub murdered this innocent man, knowing that the poor cub will be utterly destroyed if that happened.

When the chance came, she whispered for her young panther to follow the adoptive child of The Great Six, knowing that they both will discover the truth soon enough.

Goddess Bast knew that she did the right thing when her young panther chose justice over vendetta.

Wakanda has never been in better hands.

* * *

 **3.**

The third time she interfered was to answer to a long-departed friend.

Her young panther was waiting for the two fugitives—the criminal that has killed his father was imprisoned in the other jet—when she felt it. It was just a little nudge from a friend she thought has long departed; the Northern Wolf. The Northern Wolf was once a dominant deity in this cold land, her cubs were loyal hunters that would do the impossible for their pack.

It often awed her that the believers of the wolf will go to an unbelievable extent to defend their pack.

But the Northern Wolf has long gone, and the nudge that she felt was so weak it didn't even feel real.

Curious, Bast waited by her young panther as two figures limped across the thick snow.

She realised why her friend has reached out to her from the realm of deities the moment she laid her eyes on the man her panther has hunted for the past few days.

This injured, broken cub may not be a believer, but he embodied the values of the Northern Wolf to his very core. Her curiousity won over her, and she reached out to his tattered soul, wanting to see if he was worthy for her interferences.

She watched him adopted the stubborn small stag of the Red Deer as his pack when he was still a small cub that clung to his mother's skirts. She watched him protected his pack as the young stag grew and gained his antlers to return the favour. She watched him trailed behind the grown stag of Flidais in their mission to save the world, feeling the bits of his pride as she ventured deeper into his soul. She watched him fell, felt his fear and anguish that was quickly overruled by his relief that his deer was safe. She watched him being captured and tortured—the protective needs she usually reserved for her panthers resurfaced once she realised that the only thing he was thinking about throughout the whole decades of torture was the safety of the stubborn stag in his pack.

She watched him broke the decades of conditioning, his loyalty to his pack overridden his pain.

She watched him struggled to build a home, his desire for a pack kept him strong despite his hardships.

He was a hunter, fiercely protective and loyal to his pack—the very embodiment of Northern Wolf's values.

Satisfied, Bast whispered to her panther, wanting to have this wolf cub under the safety of her claws.

This little wolf has suffered enough. He deserved a new pack.

* * *

 **4.**

She should have been concerned that her interferences have becoming more frequent recently, but she needed to interfere once again.

Oh, how history has repeated itself.

Wakanda was shedding their own blood again. Her panther cub has fallen in a fight between kins that shouldn't have happened in the first place. She watched in anguish when the wayward vengeful cub threw her beloved panther down, knowing that she couldn't physically interfere to save her little panther. It will break the rules of their worlds if she was to physically manifest herself and grabbed the dying cub by his broken body.

As painful as it was to watch her beloved cub fell, she knew that it needed to happen. It was near the foretold time. The Great Six has warned them about this—that the passing of the Allfather was the mark of the end of the world and the start of the new era. Humanity needed to unite to defend their world from the incoming threat, and like always, Wakanda should be ahead from the rest of the world.

Thus, she reached out to her brother, calling out for Hanuman to help.

It was time for the Jabari to join the rest of their family.

And she re-joined Hanuman, watching over the union of the Black Panther and the White Gorilla as brothers in arm. It has been a long time since they guided their children together.

Hanuman was the one who lead the fishermen to T'challa's body.

Bast was the one who whispered compassion into M'baku's veins.

Hanuman was the one who granted wisdom to M'baku, knowing that White Gorilla didn't need Bast's herbs to be strong.

Bast was the one who ignited the protective pride in the Jabari, knowing that they were great fighters that would do anything to protect their own.

They united to end the civil war, and they won.

But they did not forget the fallen warriors.

Hanuman escorted the fallen warriors into the ancestral plane, grunting assurance that despite their misguided opinions to conquer the world, they were still the children of Wakanda and nothing were going to change that. Nothing they did will made their deities hated them.

Bast personally escorted the misguided jaguar to his waiting father, purring soothingly to the anguished cub, telling him that he was still her cub even after the long separation and his misguided vendetta—knowing that it was her old panther that has caused this cub to go astray.

She wished that the jaguar could join her panther to face the incoming war, but she also knew that he deserved to be reunited with his beloved father. Thus, she left them in the warm embrace of Death and returned to her young panther.

Wakanda was about to face a fierce battle, and Goddess Bast will be there for them.

* * *

 **5.**

This time, she interfered out of a selfish need of her own.

It has been foretold. She knew that this was indeed going to happen, that the great battle of Wakanda will costed them a lot of souls being spirited away from existence. The driving force, The Great Six has explained. Humanity fought better when they have a reason to fight, the all powerful six has said. That's why she manifested herself to her little wolf, wanting him to know that he belonged in her pack and he shouldn't feel forced to fight just because her panther saved his life. He didn't remember when she brought him to her realm while healing on her land, thus it was important for him to know. She manifested herself to her young panther too, giving the cub her support for his desire to adopt the White Wolf as their own.

Bast wanted the White Wolf to know that she loved him too, and she would watch over him just like she watched over the rest of her panthers.

The wolf fought alongside her panther, and together they fell.

"Steve?"

She felt his fear before he even noticed it. She has been watching every warrior on her land, guiding them as much as she could so that they won't fell so easily to Death's embrace, but her focus was on her two favourite cubs. Her Black Panther and White Wolf. Her little wolf was reasonably terrified, and what human would not when they see their own body disintegrated into nothingness?

Thus, she pounced towards him and grabbed his soul before it departed with the rest of the vanished warriors.

Even if it was just for a few short moments, she wanted to comfort him.

Bast felt his confusion, knew that he was shocked beyond belief as he watched his own body been blown into nothingness while he was stuck in the gentle embrace of her teeth. She offered no explanation, as she raced to other side of the land to grab her panther before it was too late.

She wanted to comfort them both.

Soul granted her wish, giving her just enough time to sooth their confused fear.

 _"It will be alright, my cubs_ ," she purred once she has placed them both in her realm, nuzzling each of them as they gaped in her presence.

"Goddess Bast?" her panther whispered, awe and shock were prominent in his voice.

 _"Trust your friends, my beloved cubs. You're not gone yet,_ " she purred, feeling her time with them ticking close to an end. She showed them the pre-destined saviours—the very ones that went against each other a few years back, the one who fought his sister during Ragnarok—the foretold saviours of mankind. _"Trust them_."

"Thank you," they said in unison, only gratitude was presence in their voices.

They vanished into Soul's care with a grateful smile on their faces.

Bast knew that it now rested on the shoulders of the foretold saviours to fix everything that has went wrong in the last battle. She waited for her surviving cubs to retire, answering their prayers as best as she could, before she finally allowed herself to feel the lost. Hanuman cradled her in his gigantic arms, assuring her that they both knew the eventual outcome of this event—that those who vanished were not gone permanently.

But it still caused her grief.

And Goddess Bast mourned.

* * *

 **+1**

Bast was happy.

Oh, she was ecstatic.

Much to the amusement of her guests and Hanuman—as she has never been so attached to mortals before—Bast circled her prey, purring in utter delight.

The pre-destined saviours have succeeded in their quest, even at the expense of some of their own life.

"Jesus," the stag of Flidais muttered, sounding amused and shocked. "This is not what I expected."

"This is it? This is our afterlife?" the chosen child of The Great Six rambled, eyes wide and blinking in disbelief at Bast. "Or am I drunk? I must be drunk. God, I need a drink."

"I thought both of you would like this little show before we departed," Bast's old friend, dear lovely Death has hummed, seemingly amused at the antics of her charges.

"What what what what."

"I was raised to believe that we went straight to our judgement after we died."

"Cap, what the hell. We're watching Wakanda's goddess about to tear Thanos apart and you're still—"

"I only believe in one god, Tony."

Bast rolled her eyes while Hanuman broke to a loud laugh. The stag wasn't entirely wrong with his belief. Humans died for their beliefs and will return to the deities that they believed in. Death chuckled good-naturedly as Bast circled her prey—the generous privilege granted by The Great Six for the anger and grief that Bast has endured since her little cubs disappeared from her care. Sure, her cubs have returned safe and sound, but they were grieving now because some of their fallen friends would never return—the duo of her audience were the examples of the fallen ones.

This wouldn't have happened if Thanos didn't choose the path of being an insufferable megalomaniac.

Bast has begged and growled at The Great Six, demanding a chance to interfere before Thanos was taken into his eternal punishment.

The six infinity powers granted her request.

She was given the privilege to be the first to punish Thanos.

And boy, was she going to tear that sinful soul apart and savour each ethereal scream of pain that soul will let out.

"Holy crap."

" _Tony_."

Goddess Bast growled, gleaming eyes locked on the purple terrified helpless soul, teeth bared in pure motherly rage.

And she lunged.

* * *

 **A/N: Moral of the story, you do not harm Bast's precious cubs. The end.**

 _ **P/s: I described Steve as a stag because he is Irish, and the Red Deer seemed to fit him better than the bald eagle. Flidais is a deity that took form of a deer in Irish folklore according to google, so that's that.**_

 _ **And I made Tony as the adoptive/chosen one by the Infinity stones because I couldn't come up with other excuse of why he is important enough for to give up Time stone for.**_

 _ **Lol**_


End file.
